Hungry Girl Goes Meatless:A MM Interview with Lisa Lillien

December 9th, 2013

Hungry Girl is helping to support Meatless Monday, and she’s doing it in a big way. In a recent blog post on People.com, The Carnivore’s Guide to Meatless Monday, Lisa Lillien reached her vast audience with delicious, smart Meatless Monday recipe ideas and advice. “Going vegetarian, even for some of your meals, can save a ton of fat grams and calories,” writes Lillien, a New York Times best-selling author of eight cookbooks, the host of Hungry Girl on Food Network and Cooking Channel, and frequent guest on shows ranging from Today to Dr. Oz to BloombergTV.

A self-proclaimed “foodologist,” Lillien offers real world advice for everyone looking to make smarter food decisions. “There’s no magic bullet,” Lillien told BloombergTV. “It’s about reality. You have to find something you can live with forever. So if you make small changes with swaps along the way, you’re going to be better in the long run. I don’t really believe in fad diets. They come in, they go out, and they don’t really help people in the long haul.”

The Meatless Monday movement and the Hungry Girl brand have a lot in common. Both are about 10 years old. Both believe the best way to eat better is by making small, incremental changes. And both began very modestly. Meatless Monday started with a simple idea: one day a week, cut out meat. Similarly, Lillien started Hungry Girl with a daily email to 70 of her friends. Now, that email reaches 1.2 million subscribers every day.

Hungry Girl: Meatless Monday is a great concept. I thought it would be great to shed a little more light on it and show my support!

MM: What advice do you have for your fans, and for fans of Meatless Monday, that are interesting in lowering their meat consumption?

HG: People who love meat will find that they can enjoy a full day’s worth of meals that are completely MEAT-FREE. And giving up meat one day a week forces them to open their minds and be a little experimental. And slowly, they might incorporate more veggie dishes into their diets.

MM: Meatless Monday and The Hungry Girl brand began in 2003 and 2004, respectively. There have been a lot of changes in the American diet since then. Looking into your crystal ball, what trends do you see for 2014?

HG: I predict we’ll be seeing more flexitarians in 2014. People who are eating more veggie-friendly dishes, and maybe phasing meat out of their diets some of the time.

MM: We were excited to hear about your newest project, The Hungry Girl Diet, coming out in March, 2014. What can HG fans look forward to?

HG: The Hungry Girl Diet is something that I am SO excited about sharing with the world. For the past (almost) ten years, people have been asking for a plan that brings together tried and true Hungry Girl concepts, ideas and recipes. This book–and the 4-week jump-start plan–does just that. The best part is how much food you get to eat on the plan! The Hungry Girl Diet launches on March 25th. I can’t wait!

MM: If you could choose any celebrity or historical person with whom to share a Meatless Monday meal, who would it be?

HG: Excellent question. Probably Albert Einstein. I know he enjoyed steak, and he was obviously a brilliant man. But I think I could outsmart him with some of my meat-free dishes!

MM: This article will appear on a Monday. Can you share a recipe that we can all cook to participate in Meatless Monday?